SIMPLY MANDER: LIKE A BOSS INTERVIEW

I’m super excited for this gorgeous girl to be the very first in our new Like A Boss Interview Series!

Meet Amanda, aka Mander/Manders - you probably know her as Simply Mander! She has a big presence on social media and shares all her fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle tips on Instagram and through her vlog on YouTube. The best thing about her? She keeps it 100% REAL, which can be tough to come by these days on social media.

I’m so grateful she was eager to share her story, along with her tips and best practices for growing your presence online. Read on to see our Q&A!

AMANDA: Currently I work for a company - Black Iron Nutrition, which is a macro-based nutrition coaching program. Essentially I help people figure out how much protein, carbs, and fats to eat for their goals. That’s the short version honestly.. A LOT more goes into it, but just to give you a generic idea.

C: Where does the majority of your business come from?

A: I would have to say that I think most people find me via Youtube or Instagram! When I read new client’s start up forms, a lot of them say that they heard about the company through my videos or Instagram!

C: Can we just take a minute to let everyone know that I used to be your babysitter?! HA I feel so old! You were the sweetest, most confident 11-year-old I knew! Where do you think that confidence came from?

A: OKAY HOW CRAZY IS THAT RIGHT!??!! I remember your little red punch buggy car like it was yesterday. You were my FAVORITE babysitter, might I add and I always used to get so excited when you would watch us! Confidence, I think you mean to say sass honestly haha! I was a SASSY girl, which my mom realized quickly would be beneficial in theatre. So I started theatre really young. I’d say that’s where I gained a LOT of my confidence. Being up on a stage, performing, in front of everyone judging you.. I think it’s kind of similar to what I do now honestly.

C: You have created a big following on Instagram and YouTube but I think the most amazing thing is that your followers all seem to be so connected to you! You do such a great job of letting people get to know you on such a personal level. Can you share a little about how you got started with it all?

A: Initially I started my Instagram page to share my personal fitness journey with what I wanted to do (which was gain muscle and get strong) and I just shared a lot about my struggles, but I also just kept it real with people. Whether it was nutrition related, fitness, or personal/relationship things, I never sugar coated anything and I made sure to always stay true to myself. I think that’s why I gained a following initially. From there it kind of snowballed, but the vlog definitely helped.

C: What are some of the things you struggled with when you were first starting out? How did you overcome those struggles?

A: In my real life: people judged hard core. I mean, they still do, but I remember being at my first gym and filming things and the people there would always talk about me and make fun of me for sharing it online. It happens because you’re just doing something different, you know? But social media wise actually the haters/trolls didn’t start appearing until I got to around 50k-70k. That’s when I really started noticing how mean people are. Like TRULY mean.I hate it. I wish I had an answer for how to overcome it because I haven’t quite figured that out yet myself, but I do my best to just ignore it.

C: At what point did you decide to transition things from hobby to career?

A: When I got asked to join the Black Iron Nutrition team! I was still working for a police department, a law firm, and coaching CrossFit on the side and I was like, okay. I have to figure out what I’m doing here.

C: Three things about you that people wouldn’t know just from social media?

A: This is hard because I feel like I literally put everything out there.

But 1: I’m actually I really big introvert. I’m what they call an extroverted introvert, I believe. It’s probably why I do well with vlogging because I’m only talking to a camera, essentially, but my worst nightmare is bars/social settings/groups of people. I get exhausted when I have to go out and do social things.. I’m so awkward and I don’t know why.

2: My first passion/career was police work. That’s what I thought I was going to do for the rest of my life.

3: My biggest dream is to create a dog ranch/rescue on a ton of acres and just let all the homeless dogs live there and not have to be in shelters. Like one giant dog-zoo. LOL.

C: Biggest piece of advice when it comes to EXPANDING your network?

A: Hm.. Meet new people, try to collaborate, put out new content regularly, keep it interesting, and be different. There’s SO much to compete with on social media these days, so it’s important that you stand out!

C: Biggest piece of advice when it comes to BRANDING?

A: Only focus on what you want to do. Your branding will suffer when you start focusing on what you THINK Other people want to see, versus just doing what you love to do. That shines through much better, in my opinion anyway.

*Notice a little change here? Yes! We did change our name from ‘Socially Awkward’ to Casey Jones Designs! But my socially awkward friends, do not worry! We will be running social media courses specifically for you! So stick around!

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